Police Headquarters Expansion Debated

HALLANDALE -- The cramped police headquarters may expand outward instead of upward if city commissioners change their minds on Tuesday.

Commissioners in June 1986 resolved a debate by voting to add an 11,000- square-foot second floor to the 13-year-old building.

But when bids for construction recently came in at $400,000 more than the $900,000 budgeted, they began having second thoughts.

After a two-hour debate last week, commissioners decided to discuss the issue further at an informal meeting on Tuesday.

In addition to cost, a major factor commissioners will consider is disruption of police operations during construction.

Rocco W. Pace, a Miami architect advising on the expansion, said second-floor construction would take 8 to 10 months, and police would need to vacate half of the first floor much of the time.

``In my opinion, the one-story concept would be cheaper, could be built sooner and would not disturb the functions of the police,`` Pace told commissioners. He estimated the cost for two stories at $53 a square foot and for one story at $43 a square foot.

Mayor Arthur ``Sonny`` Rosenberg led the move to dump the second-story plan because disruption of police operations would be ``horrendous.`` He said 11,000 square feet is unnecessary because the city isn`t growing.

Rosenberg said construction would take longer than planned because preparing the existing structure for a second floor would create ``problems you never dreamed about.``

Police Chief Richard Fox said 11,000 square feet is needed because the city will grow. He says expansion on the ground would locate offices too far from each other, and it would take another 1 1/2 years to start construction if plans are changed now.

Commissioner Nat Cutler suggested moving ahead as planned.

``This was all thoroughly discussed when we agreed to go with two stories,`` he said. ``I get the impression now we`ve just stepped back a year.``